I have been experiencing a lot of gratitude lately. I have that contented, happy, inner feeling that everything is good and as it should be! I can’t really put my finger on why I am feeling such gratitude. I have the same amount of clients. My classes have about the same amount of people. I have the same dear friends and communities. I’ve been in and out of relationships (currently out). My family is healthy and prospering. The only thing that has changed – is my attitude! Can a change in attitude really make a person feel so much more contented and at peace?
Do Americans lack Gratitude?
We Americans are really a very ungrateful society. In reality we have so much – and we throw away so much. Yet our most common concern is about what we lack.
Usually what we feel we lack the most is money – or at least what money can buy. We worry how to get it, how to save it, how to invest it, how not to lose it, how we don’t have enough. Very few of us feel abundant. It’s a common theme in our collective unconscious. And what is money really but an energetic exchange that allows us to get what we want or need. Yet it has become a measure of our abundance, or our ability to feel abundant.
An American’s initial experience of India
My current feeling of gratitude reminded me of a visit I had from my friend, Shannon, a couple of years ago. She had recently spent three weeks in India. Together we reviewed her several hundred pictures and videos. I was struck by how different the living conditions and infrastructure is in India as compared to the West. There were pictures of large communities of shacks with tires and stones holding the roofs in place. Roads were paved in some places but in others, where the money or interest had run out, there was broken pavement with huge potholes or just dirt. In some communities there was no guarantee of food, electricity, or heat. Shannon had experienced living conditions in some areas of India that were far different than I, or many Americans, had ever experienced.
Experiencing gratitude under unlikely circumstances
Indians are a very religious people. Living an existence we Americans would find both inconvenient and uncomfortable, they view everything as a gift from the Goddess. Shannon, a devotee of the Goddess, went to India on a personal spiritual pilgrimage. Yet she experienced a connection to the Goddess that was very different from anything she could have imagined.
Arriving unexpectedly four days ahead of her luggage and sleeping bag, Shannon was faced with immediate deprivation. She hadn’t anticipated this dilemma. She wasn’t sure when, or even if, her things would arrive. She hadn’t expected it to be so cold, and her coat was in her luggage. There was no bedding for her to sleep in. She only had one change of clothes, and all her toiletries were with her luggage. The thought of having to wear her glasses for lack of contact solution was not a pleasant thought.
Gift from the Goddess
Shannon’s situation was quite distressing until people found out about her predicament. Soon they began making spontaneous offerings – a gift of clean socks, the loan of a blanket, someone sharing their contact solution. Each offer filled a need she would never have asked for. Truly she saw each gesture of generosity as a “gift from the Goddess.”
Shannon was deeply moved by this outpouring of generosity. When her luggage and sleeping bag finally arrived, Shannon realized that, though momentarily impoverished, she had been provided for all along. She had been watched over by the Goddess. She came back with a personal understanding of the depth of spirituality that exists in a country where so many have so little. She knows why each need that is taken care of is viewed as a “gift from the Goddess.”
Abundance is appreciation for what you have
I think both Shannon and I have come to realize that, though money can certainly make things a bit more comfortable, that it is not the meaning of abundance. Abundance is an awareness that things are good, and that everything will turn out just fine. Sure we have challenges. Shannon’s experience in India was a major challenge, and the outcome was so much more than just having her stuff. It was experiencing the generosity and kindness of new friends and a deepening connection to the Divine Feminine who provides.
Are you seeking a different way?
Many women are seeking a connection to the Divine that has more feminine characteristics. The fight to preserve peace, the fight to conquer the land, and the drive to wrestle every bit of production out of the soil is creating a mentality of scarcity thinking that leads to fear, greed, control issues, envy, and radicalism in both the personal and well as the global realms.
An Invitation
If this speaks to you then I would like to invite you to a 3-month course that I’m offering: Ancient Wisdom Teachings for Contemporary Women. It gives women a chance to explore their spirituality and find their own way on how to confront many of the issues that are of concern today.
During this course you will:
If you are curious about this three month course, please go to Ancient Wisdom Teachings for Contemporary Women for more details.
I hope you will join me and the other amazing women who have already signed up.
I am only taking eight women for this course, so please sign up as soon as possible.
Click here if you are curious about “Persephone’s Journey; A Wisdom School for Awakening Women.”